Helen Hiebert's Blog, page 24

One Square Foot of Wildflowers

The Sunday Paper #354

March 7, 2021

Paper of the Week: Wild Abaca

This wild abaca paper (I sometimes call it abaca leather) is an unusual paper I developed years ago. I had been air drying abaca with embedded strings and wires, and I decided to try misting and restraint drying a few air dried sheets without embedded objects. The result was this new paper that was translucent, textured, and strong. I’m making a batch now for an artist who is doing an incredible project – documenting the tragedy of lives lost in New York due to Covid – and while I’m at it, I will make some extra sheets. Let me know if you’re interested ($15/14″ x 17″ sheet; $10/10″ x 14″ sheet).

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In the Studio: 

I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Jamie Thome of Artist’s Book House in Evanston, IL for their book artist series. This is an audio and video interview where I talk about my journey with paper that began in 1985 on an exchange program in Germany. Find parts one and two here.

On a related note, Audrey Niffenegger (author of The Time Traveler’s Wife and Her Fearful Symmetry – I highly recommend both books – and her team at Artists Book House just won a competition to enter into negotiations for a long-term lease of the Harley Clarke Mansion in Evanston, IL. This is fantastic news for the book arts community!

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Papery Tidbits:I love the concept behind the new paper shop, Letterpress Play, in Austin, TX.

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To provide residents with an immersive outdoor art experience last month, Canal Shores Golf Course in Evanston, IL hosted Winter Wonderland, a nature art display across the golf course’s 18 holes. Jamie Thome, (mentioned above – a board member of Artists Book House) started her art piece by tying two small paper books to the branches of a tree, and other members of ABH added their work to the tree too.

Courtesy of Jamie Thome: A piece of the Artists Book House tree. Artist Mardy Sears created a heart-shaped book insulated in a Plexiglass box.

Hadi Fallahpisheh goes into a pitch dark room without vision and draws with a flashlight on photo paper. The resulting work becomes conceptual and political, and there is this beautiful promise, or dream, that you go through darkness, not able to see anything, yet you have full freedom to do anything.

HADI FALLAHPISHEH, TWO AMERICANS BREAKING A PERSIAN POT, 2020, “BLOW-UPS”, ANDREW KREPS GALLERY, NEW YORK, 2020. COURTESY OF ANDREW KREPS GALLERY.

Check out this new Airwick campaign created by Havas New York: each scene consists of miniature props and puppets that were hand crafted from environmentally friendly materials, natural based paints and recycled paper to create a unique story that encourages people to plant wildflowers.

Rosemary Karuga’s collage work depicts pastoral and domestic African scenes. She was one of the pioneers who made major contributions to contemporary art on the continent. Click through to see more of her delightful collages.

© Karuga Family/Red Hill Art Gallery

This is a fascinating profile of Hanne Tierney, an artist who morphed into a gallerist and is committed to showing middle-age women and Black artists at FiveMyles in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn.

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Featured this week in my Studio shop:

Try It! Panel Shade online class, Playing With Pop-Ups, Papermaking with Garden Plants & Common Weeds, and Tangram watermark paper.

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If you read this blog regularly, would you consider making a donation to support the research, writing, design and delivery of The Sunday Paper? Click on the paper button at the left to learn how. Or, perhaps you’re interested in promoting your business in The Sunday Paper.

Thanks to everyone who has already pledged your support!

SHARE THIS blog post with your paper-loving friends!

I occasionally have affiliate links in my blog posts – links to products in which I will receive a small commission if you make a purchase. Thanks for your support!

Shredding Money

The Sunday Paper #353

March 7, 2021

Papermaker of the Week: Landes Sullivan

© Landes Sullivan, Untitled, 2021, handmade cast abaca and cotton papers, paper covered luan board with pulp paint, bamboo inclusions 4.5’ x 3.5’ x 2.5’

Landes Sullivan (Barbara Landes & Paul Sullivan) use the abaca and cotton papers they make to fabricate vibrant, colorful objects that they compose with, rearrange and cobble together to make sculpture. Other materials often make their way in as visual or structural support such as wire, bamboo, plywood and foam board. Damning old work and storage units, they prefer to use, undo, reuse. They document each sculpture, hopefully show it and maybe sell it. If they still own it, they’ll take it apart and use the component objects again – and again – in new works. Someone said that Matisse’s paper cutouts are without “finality and finish;” they flourish in “a state of perpetual deferral.” That sums up Landes Sullivan’s thinking about their work. Working in this way, their inventory of paper objects seems like a troop of actors taking on different roles and personalities for each new sculpture.

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In the Studio: 

One of the techniques in my upcoming book, The Art of Papercraft, is bendable paper.

I spent a good part of this week answering questions for my editor about the text, images, illustrations and templates for my upcoming book The Art of Papercraft. I have to say that this is an arduous process – there are so many little details – and I have had to revisit every project multiple times to make sure everything is satisfactory. I felt honored at the end of the week when my editor wrote to me saying that she thinks we make a good team. I hope to an image of the cover to show you within the next month!!

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Papery Tidbits:Have you listened to my interview with John Sullivan on Paper Talk?Learn how to make a Pop-Up Lantern

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Jonathan Michael Castillo created these cyanotype prints of Julia on handmade paper made with $80K of shredded US currency, the amount of Julia’s student loan debt. These are on view at the Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago. The work is titled American Institutional Indebtedness and is a critique of the American systems that are burdening many with debt.

Jonathan Castillo is seen at the Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago on March 3, 2021, with his artwork depicting “Julia,” a person whose student loan debt is in the five figure range. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)

Hilary Pfeifer’s artwork explores the natural world through sculpture, collage and installation, often using reclaimed wood, laser cut metal and subtly camouflaged found objects. Her recent collage work is made by hand-cutting hundreds of elements to create a dense composition. Hilary’s work has been featured numerous times in American Craft Magazine, and is in the collections of the State of Oregon, The Center for Art in Wood, Oregon Health Sciences University, and the White House. In addition to her studio practice, Hilary has also created many permanent public art works for low income housing, universities and hospitals across the United States. In her spare time, Hilary runs a business called Bunny with a Toolbelt, making animals and their environments out of reclaimed wood scraps. Her small street-viewed gallery the Window of Wonders features this work and is located in the heart of the Alberta Arts District in Portland, OR.

Hilary recently created 55 original collages that she turned into a playing card deck. She has many of the original collages for sale, or you can get all of them in the card set.

© Hilary Pfeifer. Process shot taken while working on the playing card deck – this bird collage was used for the King of Spades card. 

I met Laura Anderson Barbata when I was working at Dieu Donné Papermill in the 1990’s when she became interested in handmade paper. Transcommunality is an exhibition that features five ambitious collaborations that Anderson Barbata has made across the Americas and now presents together for the first time at Tulane University. These collaborations range from public processional performances to artist books and handmade paper, textiles, garments, and the repatriation of an exploited nineteenth-century Mexican woman. Over the years, Anderson Barbata’s art has brought public attention to several issues of civil, indigenous, and environmental rights.

Installation View of Laura Anderson Barbata: Transcommunality at Newcomb Art Museum. Courtesy of Tulane.

It is so interesting how people get interested in hand papermaking! Qualified handicrafts instructor Sevilay Güler, who lives in northwestern Turkey’s Edirne province, discovered papermaking during a trip to North Macedonia. Now she is making paper with recycled paper and bark, couching onto a cloth, drying the sheets and then paints traditional Ottoman/Turkish motifs on her papers.

Some works that Sevilay Güler painted on her handmade papers, Edirne, northwestern Turkey, March 1, 2021. (AA Photo)

This is fascinating: an international team of researchers has figured out how to virtually unfold and unlock the contents of an old letter by developing algorithms to virtually separate the different layers of the complicated folds.

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Featured this week in my Studio shop:

Try It! Panel Shade online class, Playing With Pop-Ups, Papermaking with Garden Plants & Common Weeds, and Tangram watermark paper.

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If you read this blog regularly, would you consider making a donation to support the research, writing, design and delivery of The Sunday Paper? Click on the paper button at the left to learn how. Or, perhaps you’re interested in promoting your business in The Sunday Paper.

Thanks to everyone who has already pledged your support!

SHARE THIS blog post with your paper-loving friends!

I occasionally have affiliate links in my blog posts – links to products in which I will receive a small commission if you make a purchase. Thanks for your support!

The Unity Project

The Sunday Paper #352

February 28, 2021

Papers of the Week

My first curated paper collection has almost sold out! If you were thinking of acquiring these papers, here’s one more chance. Don’t delay, I just have 5 sets left ($75). I also have a few sets of the four sheets you see pictured above ($25/set) and 6 extra sheets of my tangram watermark ($12/sht). I’d love to get these out into the world. You’ll find these three products in The Paper Shop (while supplies last).

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In the Studio: 

My online class Weave Through Winter is so inspiring! I learn as much as participants do. Here are just three of the hundreds of weavings that were created this week: Rebecca Winter wove two copies of the same photo together; Peg Riley inserted old film strips into a piece of wall paper; and CJ Mittendorf cut curved strips and windows. Follow the hashtag #weavethroughwinter to see what we’re up to. You can also sign the waiting list for next year’s class.

Weavings by #weavethroughwinter participants Rebecca Winter, Peg Riley and CJ Mittendorf

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Papery Tidbits:Natty Light, beloved cheap beer of choice for college students everywhere, has installed Da Vinci of Debt, a large-scale paper installation, in Grand Central Station.I have a youtube channel, where I post occasional tutorials and how-to’s.Do you know about The Paper Advisor, a place to find resources about paper?!

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I recently interviewed John Sullivan on Paper Talk, who started Logos Graphics 46 years ago when he moved to San Francisco, CA. The shop transitioned from offset lithography to letterpress in 2000, and it was letterpress printing that sparked Sullivan’s interest in the subtleties of paper. As digital presses captured a larger portion of the print market. there was a narrowing of paper texture, color and thickness. Have a listen!

I’ve been to New Bern, NC, and was delighted to read about the Unity Project. Local youth and community members started working on this project in August, creating a metal framework covered with painted paper mache. Jonathan Burger, executive director for the Craven Arts Council, came up with the original idea, stating that his goal was to give every district in town access to the arts by bringing it to them. They create it, it symbolizes unity, and the entire community gets to enjoy it!

Elephant dung paper? Eeeewww! Sunny Rajopadhyaya has been converting elephant dung (digested plant fiber) into usable paper products. His startup ‘Ecoorb Ventures’ is a great example of sustainable waste management and entrepreneurship.

Papers made of elephant dung are drying in the Sun. Photo: Ecoorb Ventures

Plant Dye Zine is an independently published magazine full of botanical dye articles and recipes. Published by natural dyer Rebecca Desnos. Rebecca has written 4 dye tutorials and there are 7 other articles and recipes written by creatives from around the world.

If you’re into decorating Easter eggs, check out this clever way to collage paper napkins onto eggs.

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Featured this week in my Studio shop:

The Papermaker’s Studio Guide DVD, Playing With Pop-Ups, The Papermaker’s Companion, and Tangram watermark paper.

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If you read this blog regularly, would you consider making a donation to support the research, writing, design and delivery of The Sunday Paper? Click on the paper button at the left to learn how. Or, perhaps you’re interested in promoting your business in The Sunday Paper.

Thanks to everyone who has already pledged your support!

SHARE THIS blog post with your paper-loving friends!

I occasionally have affiliate links in my blog posts – links to products in which I will receive a small commission if you make a purchase. Thanks for your support!

Tea Bag Paintings

The Sunday Paper #351

February 21, 2021

Papermaker of the Week: Linda Blondheim

Hey papermakers! I’d love to feature you in this column one day soon. All you have to do is fill out this form.

© Linda Blondheim, Tea bag painting mounted to hand made paper

Linda Blondheim is a landscape painter by career, but also makes handmade paper and enhanced paper. She is also a tea bag painter and mounts her tea bag paintings to handmade paper. Her tea bag paintings are actually painted on real tea bags. She removes the tiny staple from the bag and saves the tea for her garden plants. She flattens out the bag and mounts it to a piece of handmade paper that she creates herself. Everything is recycled except the paint. She saves tea bags from various brands of tea for these paintings, which are adored by tea lovers.

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In the Studio: 

The third annual Weave Through Winter 30-day challenge began this week. We started out weaving strips of paper, and the possibilities are truly endless. Here’s my weaving to the prompt of TIME. Curious about paper weaving? Check out the instagram challenge – you are invited to weave along with us, or just follow the hashtag #weavethroughwinter to see what we’re up to. You can also sign the wait list for next year’s class.

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Papery Tidbits:Wow, I have been packing and shipping the first Curated Paper Collection all week! Thanks to all who have purchased, and I have about 10 sets left. Is one of them yours?Do you know about The Paper Advisor, a place to find resources about paper?!

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Check out the exhibition Papier, now open at American Swedish Institute in Washington through July 11, 2021. It unites Swedish artists Bea Szenfeld’s spectacular sculptural paper-fashions with Stina Wirsén’s evocative illustrations.

Wowza! Coca-Cola is testing a paper bottle to eliminate plastic from its packaging entirely. The prototype is made by a Danish company from an extra-strong paper shell that still contains a thin plastic liner. Paboco is the Danish firm behind development of the paper-based container.

I am fond of the work of Imin Yeh, who creates everyday objects out of paper. The projects use repetitive handcraft and mimicry as a strategy for exploring the issues around the unseen labor and production that lies behind our often overlooked everyday objects.

© Imin Yeh

Artist Julia Ibbini and computer scientist Stephane Noyer craft intricate sculptures informed by geometric principles and the divide between digital and analog techniques. Once a laser cuts out the individual rings from archival paper or card, the pair glues the layers together, forming vases that spiral upward.

As seen on This Is Colossal

This is a lovely profile of paper cutter extraordinaire Béatrice Coron. You might also be interested in the organization that featured her too: Vacation With an Artist.

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Featured this week in my Studio shop:

The Papermaker’s Studio Guide DVD, Playing With Pop-Ups, The Papermaker’s Companion, and Vertices, an artist’s book

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If you read this blog regularly, would you consider making a donation to support the research, writing, design and delivery of The Sunday Paper? Click on the paper button at the left to learn how. Or, perhaps you’re interested in promoting your business in The Sunday Paper.

Thanks to everyone who has already pledged your support!

SHARE THIS blog post with your paper-loving friends!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

The Sunday Paper #351

February 14, 2021

Paper of the Week: Curated Paper Collection #1

I’m not sure whether I love paper as much as I love chocolate, but maybe the fact that paper has far fewer calories pushes it into first place.

Do you love paper as much as I do? Need a Valentine’s Day treat for yourself or a paper lover? Check out the first of my quarterly Curated Paper Collections of 2021, which contains approximately one dozen unique papers from around the world. I had such fun discovering and purchasing this selection from paper shops and artisans. Sets are available for purchase while they last!

I am busy selecting papers for the next three collections. If you are a maker or have a unique paper to share with me, please do!

In the Studio: 

My friend and fellow paper lover Berneil came up to the studio a few weeks ago to make a lamp under my guidance. She used my watermarked star paper (which she purchased at my last paper sale) and it looks so good illuminated!

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Papery Tidbits:Need a last minute valentine? My Woven Paper Heart project was a hit!Do you know about The Paper Advisor, a place to find resources about paper?!

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Sara Garden Armstrong has been working with paper and technology since before it was a thing. She recently sent me a copy of her monograph: SARA GARDEN ARMSTRONG: Threads and Layers. Illuminating essays and lavish photography reveal the connective threads that run through her impressive oeuvre of more than four decades. Get your copy at the link, and be sure to scroll down when you’re on her site to watch the video in which she talks about her work and her thoughts about what it means to be an artist.

Has anyone else noticed that major publications seem to be taking an interest in paper? Here’s a recent feature in ARTNews about best papers for gift wrap (I’ve seen other paper mentions there) and the NYTimes has a fairly regular column about paper objects you can make with a newspaper.

The Bainbridge Island Museum of Art has launched a new video series featuring books from the Cynthia Sears Collection. In this first episode of the series, Artist’s Books Unshelved, host Catherine Alice Michaelis features two books that explore issues of racial justice and atrocities : “Identification of Cars Participating in Klan Rally at Montgomery Alabama, March 21st, 1965” by Tyler Starr and “Mourning/Warning: Numbers and Repeaters” by Tia Blassingame.

The third annual Weave Through Winter online class begins tomorrow, and I’m hosting an instagram challenge that anyone can participate in. Feel free to join the challenge, or follow the hashtag to see what we’re making!

Attention dog lovers! A pair of paper-folding enthusiasts in Brazil broke a Guinness World Record when they combined their efforts to create a display featuring 1,010 origami dogs.

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Featured this week in my Studio shop:

The Papermaker’s Studio Guide DVD, Playing With Paper, The Papermaker’s Companion, and Tangential, an artist’s book

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If you read this blog regularly, would you consider making a donation to support the research, writing, design and delivery of The Sunday Paper? Click on the paper button at the left to learn how. Or, perhaps you’re interested in promoting your business in The Sunday Paper.

Thanks to everyone who has already pledged your support!

SHARE THIS blog post with your paper-loving friends!

Paper Quilt

The Sunday Paper #350

February 7, 2021

Papermaker of the Week: Susan Mackin Dolan

Hey papermakers! I’d love to feature you in this column one day soon. All you have to do is fill out this form.

© Susan Mackin Dolan, 2018 Este No Es Su Agua woodcut on stenciled gampi and kozo papers 50″ w x 28″ h

Susan Mackin Dolan makes stenciled papers with a modified Japanese sheet forming technique using kozo, gampi and mitsumata. She primarily makes relief prints on her papers that often become part of larger installations. After receiving an MFA in printmaking and papermaking from the University of Colorado in Boulder in 1984, she became the first Chairperson of the papermaking department at the Southwest School of Art in San Antonio, Texas. As an artist and educator for over 35 years, she taught and had residencies at colleges, universities, and art centers, her work has been shown internationally and is in many collections, and it has been published in books and magazines.

In the Studio: The Paper Year + The Paper Studio

I am enjoying the versatility of paper more than ever this year!

Works by Karen Clerke, Deborah Shayne and Clara DeMott.

We’ve just completed the first month of The Paper Year online, and we were exploring sculpted paper weavings (and illumination). Aren’t these fabulous? Registration for The Paper Year opens again in April. Click on the link to find out more and hold your spot.

Handmade paper sculpture by Joyce Gold, quilled paper pendant by Ann Martin, hydrangeas by Nyasha Vee

The Paper Studio is my free facebook group, and we’re doing a monthly challenge in 2021. January’s challenge was Circles, and you’re welcome to join us for February’s challenge which is Thread.

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Papery Tidbits:Have you listened to my interview with Paula Beardell Krieg on Paper Talk? Need a Valentine project? My Woven Paper Heart project was a hit!

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Oh! How charming. Ruby Silvious repurposes the thin paper pouches holding her beverage of choice into miniature canvases. Sometimes strung together or ripped to remove the leaves, Silvious’s tea bags depict the quiet, unassuming moments of everyday life.

As seen on Colossal, image © Ruby Silvious

Nostalgia, commercialism or both? Which Peanuts character would you make first?

I love this community project inspired by a story. Rockland Public Library is preparing for Valentine’s Day by helping the community share their hopes and joys through art. Community members are making rectangles or squares, which will be joined to create a unity quilt. The project is inspired by the picture book The All-Together Quilt, by Lizzy Rockwell, which tells the story of the cross generational quilt making projects being done in Norwalk, Connecticut since 2008.

(Photo courtesy Rockland Public Library)

Check out the torn paper assemblage work of Neysa Winterer, now on view at Gallery 360 in Minneapolis.

© Neysa Winterer, The Seine Bridge at Asnieres, 12″ x 15″, torn paper assemblage

Check out this really cool interactive NY Times feature on collage and cubism. This is what digital media was made for!

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Featured this week in my Studio shop:

The Papermaker’s Studio Guide DVD, Playing With Paper, The Papermaker’s Companion, and Tangential, an artist’s book

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If you read this blog regularly, would you consider making a donation to support the research, writing, design and delivery of The Sunday Paper? Click on the paper button at the left to learn how. Or, perhaps you’re interested in promoting your business in The Sunday Paper.

Thanks to everyone who has already pledged your support!

SHARE THIS blog post with your paper-loving friends!

Who’s Your Valentine?

The Sunday Paper #349

January 31, 2021

Papermaker of the Week: Brian Queen

Hey papermakers! I’d love to feature you in this column one day soon. All you have to do is fill out this form.

Freshly couched chiaroscuro watermarks utilizing a mould made using a laser cutter and CNC machine.

Brian Queen lives in Calgary, Canada and has been making paper by hand for more than 30 years utilizing a wide range of materials and techniques. His interests span the book arts including hand papermaking, bookbinding, calligraphy and letterpress printing. Queen’s special interest is light and shade or chiaroscuro watermarks, and he uses both traditional and innovative techniques to create these watermarks. As a craftsman and toolmaker he explores how new technologies such as 3D printing, laser cutters and CNC machines impact the book arts, and he writes on the subject for various publications. Trained as a draftsman, he owns and operates Sensa-Light Ltd. along with his brother, a company that manufactures custom architectural lighting for commercial spaces, hotels, and restaurants.

In the Studio: Who’s Your Valentine?

I did a Woven Paper Valentine demonstration on zoom last week, which was extremely well attended (we maxed out at 500, wowza)! I’ve edited the video and posted it on YouTube, so if you weren’t there, you can make it too! If you make one, share it on instagram and tag me (@helenhiebert)!

Interested in paper weaving? My popular online class, Weave Through Winter is now open for registration, and class begins on February 15th.

Create a daily practice as you explore a variety of papers and weaving techniques.Commit to an hour of creativity a day (more or less).Challenge yourself to share what you create (there will be prizes)!Stimulate your mind by finding, mixing and matching papers; and find satisfaction in the ordinary while creating something extraordinary.Immerse yourself in a supportive and inspirational paper-loving community.

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Papery Tidbits:Have you listened to my interview with Paula Beardell Krieg on Paper Talk? The Paper Year will open again for monthly subscriptions on April 1st (no kidding)! Read more and hold your spot.

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Stephanie Hare of Share Studios has relocated to Maine (from Philadelphia) where she continues to create handmade paper that calligraphers and wedding planners seek out, largely through her Instagram page, @share.studios. She also makes and sells unique papermaking tools that are popular. Check her out!

Susan Knight grew up with a connection to water. In her exhibit, Core Sampling Magic, she explores groundwater. “In my exuberance to learn more about water around the world, I wanted to express what I can’t see,” she said about the installation at the Museum of Nebraska Art. Using paper and Tyvek, the artist suspended 80 pieces of floating cut paper artwork to replicate the relationship between soil and water, something she explored with hydrogeologist Susan Lackey.

© Susan Knight, photo by Rick Brown, Yard Light Media

I love when people come up with innovative ways to fund their passions! Berk Armagan, a 26-year-old young man from Istanbul, Turkey draws the sites around the world that he visits on simple paper coffee cups to fund his globetrotting passion.

© Provided by Xinhua | Turkish artist Berk Armagan draws on a paper cup in Ankara, Turkey on Jan. 27, 2021. (Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua)

This is a fun tag line for this tree free toilet paper: We roll differently. It’s made with 100% ultra-soft bamboo. I’ve made paper with bamboo fiber, and I wonder where Cloud Paper is doing their manufacturing and/or sourcing their fibers.

Oh, Joseph Wu, how fabulous! Click through to see his origami Bernie Sanders and Amanda Gorman memes!

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Featured this week in my Studio shop:

Collage Packs, Playing With Pop-Ups, The Papermaker’s Companion, and Alpha, Beta …, an artist’s book

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If you read this blog regularly, would you consider making a donation to support the research, writing, design and delivery of The Sunday Paper? Click on the paper button at the left to learn how. Or, perhaps you’re interested in promoting your business in The Sunday Paper.

Thanks to everyone who has already pledged your support!

SHARE THIS blog post with your paper-loving friends!

Stick It!

The Sunday Paper #348

January 24, 2021

Papermaker of the Week: Beck Whitehead

Hey papermakers! I’d love to feature you in this column one day soon. All you have to do is fill out this form.

© 2009 Beck Whitehead, 15×15, abaca paper painting

Friends, maybe you’ve heard this sad news. If not, I am so sorry to report another paper giant has left us. Beck Whitehead was a San Antonio artist who served as Chair of Papermaking and Book Arts at the Southwest School of Art until 2016. In addition, she taught workshops in papermaking around the country and in Canada. Beck created paper paintings, one-of-a-kind books and installations. I had the great pleasure of visiting Beck in her studio and interviewing her on Paper Talk just before her cancer diagnosis a few years ago. She gave me a quick video tour of her studio that you can see at the link.

A few fond memories of Beck: I helped her acquire the beater in her studio, which originally belonged to Garner Tullis (another paper/print legend) when I met his son, who was living in Portland when I was; Beck developed a really interesting way to stretch her handmade paper canvases (we talked about it in our interview). And people often confused me, Beck and Amanda Degener (because we all have short hair)? I would be in conversation at a conference and realize that the person I was talking to thought I was Beck or Amanda! We took a photo of the three of us together at a conference in Banff, Canada years ago, where we laughed about those mix ups. Rest in peace, dear Beck.

In the Studio: Weave Through Winter

My popular online class, Weave Through Winter is now open for registration, and class begins on February 15th.

Create a daily practice as you explore a variety of papers and weaving techniques.Commit to an hour of creativity a day (more or less).Challenge yourself to share what you create (there will be prizes)!Stimulate your mind by finding, mixing and matching papers; and find satisfaction in the ordinary while creating something extraordinary.

Watch the video, read all about it and register.

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Papery Tidbits:I had fun doing a paper weaving demo on Ali Manning’s facebook live last week.Here’s a new Paper Tip Video about adhesives that I released this week (and that’s where the title of this block post comes from: Stick It!))!#amonthinpaper has been so fun to participate in all month. You can follow my journey backwards (beginning on 1/1) and forwards (through 1/31).Want to teach papermaking at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts? Here are two opportunities: one and two.

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I had a lovely conversation with Paula Beardell Krieg on Paper Talk. Paula is an artist and educator who uses paper for drawings, decoration, and building. She loves to explore the internal structure of books, including the patterns of folds, the sewing and knotting of bindings, and how everything fits together. Krieg’s work lies at the intersection of art and math, using color and line to illuminate symmetries and geometry in and on paper. She often collaborates with classroom teachers to design projects for arts-in-education classes and writes about her work in classrooms, as well as her own adventures with paper. Enjoy our conversation!

Several of you sent me links to this astounding origami warrior by Juho Könkkölä that is folded from one sheet of paper! If you’re curious about the process behind the creation, I found this video on his website, where he even has tutorials for folding parts of the samurai, accompanied by a warning “I wouldn’t recommend trying this, if you don’t know how to read crease patterns”. Okay, I’m out. Who’s in?

As seen on Bored Panda

Sol Lewitt was the first contemporary artist I remember learning about, and I love, love, love his work. I saw a print of his work in the office of my soon-to-be art professor when I did my campus visit at The University of the South many moons ago. An event (which took place in December), Radical LeWitt, a virtual discussion on the work of artist Sol LeWitt was inspired by the recent publication of Sol LeWitt: Not to Be Sold for More Than $100. I was so interested to learn about this little known body of Lewitt’s work made by folding and tearing paper – as well as a new app that allows audiences to explore the artist’s life, process, and works in incredible detail.

Wow, just wow! Check out this work by Kenturah Davis, who transforms hand-written script into thread using the Japanese weaving technique called shifu, and creates mesmerizing portraits that emerge from pencil rubbing over paper that’s been embossed with hand-written texts.

As seen on Art Net: Kenturah Davis’s studio showing preparations for paper thread weaving. Image courtesy the artist.

This is really cool: The Cleveland Chronicle printed a special edition of the paper that was sold to benefit the homeless. The newspapers have fun designs printed on some pages, making them reusable as wrapping paper.

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Featured this week in my Studio shop:

Collage Packs, Playing With Pop-Ups, The Papermaker’s Companion, and Alpha, Beta …, an artist’s book

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If you read this blog regularly, would you consider making a donation to support the research, writing, design and delivery of The Sunday Paper? Click on the paper button at the left to learn how. Or, perhaps you’re interested in promoting your business in The Sunday Paper.

Thanks to everyone who has already pledged your support!

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Millennial Papermaking

The Sunday Paper #347

January 17, 2021

Papermaker of the Week: Joyce Gold

Hey papermakers! I’d love to feature you in this column one day soon. All you have to do is fill out this form.

© 2020, Joyce Gold, ‘DNA Cluster’, handmade paper, wire mesh dipped in high shrinkage abaca, attached abaca, jute, black pigmented abaca and cotton rag forms with burned markings and discarded burned holes with laminated text. 23″H X 14″W X 7.5″ D

Joyce Gold creates paper artworks in her Denver, Colorado studio. After graduating from CA State Long Beach with a BFA in printmaking, she worked as a printer for artists in Los Angeles, printing for Chic Bragg, Arthur Secunda, Marty Tobias, Misha Moracha, Charles Bragg, and others. Joyce returned to papermaking to explore the endless possibilities of the medium. She has sold her artwork to collectors across the U.S., and her work has been selected for many exhibitions across the nation.

In the Studio: Make a Valentine on Zoom With Me! (Free Workshop)

On January 28th, I’m hosting a free live online Zoom event to teach you how to make a woven paper valentine and tell you about my upcoming Weave Through Winter online course. Everyone is welcome!

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Papery Tidbits:If you haven’t heard about Book Paper Thread yet, here’s a great opportunity! They are hosting an online event called Form & Function from Afar. And it is free! I’ve already signed up.———————————————————————————————–––––––

This is a fun article about the benefits of origami and how to use it to create stunning DIY home décor, gifts and more.

As seen on Porch.com.

I got excited when I saw this article about millennials and hand papermaking (and I recognized the image as the work of Share Studios – Stephanie Hare was on Paper Talk awhile back). The gist of the article encourages millennials and members of Generation Z to save the planet, and suggests making paper as one way to do that. But this sentence bugged me “the irresponsibility and lack of concern from older generations has many students taking it upon themselves to act more sustainably, attempting to undo the damage done to our climate.” Well, if blaming the elders gets the younger generation motivated to save the planet, I’ll take it (along with a little respect).

Creating your own paper out of used material is a small but great step for the environment. (Image via Instagram/@share.studios)

I enjoyed being on Janna Willoughby-Lohr’s Reach for the Stars Podcast! We talked about my journey with paper and creative consistency. Have a listen!

Nova Scotia recently banned single-use plastic bags, prompting many Halifax retailers to go plastic-free last month. Businesses can offer reusable bags to their customers or ask them to bring their own, which most of us are familiar with. But Purush Cannane has been recovering waste paper and turning it into handmade paper bags that he has been selling to a number of small retailers Nova Scotia since 2019.

Paper bags created by Greenii Inc.

I love these GIANT fairy tale books!

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Featured this week in my Studio shop:

A Map to Now, Playing With Pop-Ups, The Papermaker’s Companion, and Prism, an artist’s book

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If you read this blog regularly, would you consider making a donation to support the research, writing, design and delivery of The Sunday Paper? Click on the paper button at the left to learn how. Or, perhaps you’re interested in promoting your business in The Sunday Paper.

Thanks to everyone who has already pledged your support!

SHARE THIS blog post with your paper-loving friends!

1000 Paper Doves

The Sunday Paper #346

January 10, 2021

Paper of the Week: A Handmade Collection

Oh look! It’s Paper of the Week instead of Papermaker of the Week. I’m going to occasionally offer sheets of handmade paper for sale here. But hey papermakers! I’d love to feature you in this column one day soon. All you have to do is fill out this form.

I have a limited number of these sets four handmade papers. All sheets are approx. 12″ x 18″. Each set contains:


a grey sheet of cotton, cover weight (for a drawing with white pencil, perhaps?)
a wispy thin sheet of abaca, with a bit of abaca fleck (translucent!)
a striped watermark in white cotton (so unusual when held up to the light)
a double sided pulp stenciled sheet; some sets are solid green on the back; others solid blue; all papers have the same designs stenciled on them (in paper pulp), as you see above.


In the Studio: The Paper Year Begins! 

© Elaine Chu, Above; watercolor streaks on vellum, Below: Batik commercial paper.

We had a really fun creating these lanterns at the Paper Year Kickoff Event last Sunday. Several participants have posted their lanterns on instagram, and this one was created by Elaine Chu. We’ll be doing projects like this all year long in The Paper Year, and registration ends tonight at midnight MST. Elaine took an online class with me last summer and is All In for The Paper Year. She even invited four of her friends from a postcard collage group to sign up, and they did! I hope you’ll join us too!

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Papery Tidbits:

Speaking of the Paper Year Kickoff event, I’ve edited the video so that you can make the pop-up lantern with me.
Here’s a fantastic demonstration of Paste Paper and Orizome Paper Decoration Techniques, with a little bit of history thrown in, thanks to the Watson Library at the Metropolitan Museum of Art!
I’m a guest on the Reach the Stars Podcast this week, where I talk about my journey with paper. Have a listen – it’s episode 22: Creative Consistency with Helen Hiebert!

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A couple of weeks ago, I posted about an installation of origami angels (the , at Ripon Cathedral in the UK. And then a reader sent me a link to this installation of origami doves by Michael Pendry at The Washington National Cathedral. Click through to watch them in motion. What a poignant message this installation gives us this week: PEACE.

Myriam Dion is taking newsprint as a medium to the next level, and then some! She allows herself to be guided by the images and topics present in the newspapers she finds—both their political content and photographic quality—which then leaves her with an idea of what the piece will be like as a whole.

© Myriam Dion, as seen on My Modern Met

I’ve been seeing more and more Korean hanji around lately. So cool! Check out this Q&A interview with Minjun Kim in Whitehot Magazine.

Installation view Minjung Kim ©Hill Art Foundation. Photo by Matthew Herrmann.

I was so happy to discover these gouache works on handmade paper by Houston artist Gail Siptak. She purchases handmade paper from all over the US and England, and she “paints not so much what is happening but how it affects people.” She is prolific and this one in a series of her pandemic paintings.

“Neighbors” is among the small gouache paintings Gail Siptak has made during the pandemic. The works are available through Koelsch Haus Gallery. Photo: Courtesy of the artist / Courtesy of the artist

I saw this video trailer for a film about the collage work of Lance Letscher over on the All Things Paper Blog a couple of weeks ago. Wowza! I hope to watch the movie one day.

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Featured this week in my Studio shop:

All About The Paper Year 2021 Subscription Club, A Handmade Collection, The Papermaker’s Companion, Prism, an artist’s book

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If you read this blog regularly, would you consider making a donation to support the research, writing, design and delivery of The Sunday Paper? Click on the paper button at the left to learn how. Or, perhaps you’re interested in promoting your business in The Sunday Paper.

Thanks to everyone who has already pledged your support!

SHARE THIS blog post with your paper-loving friends!